Sunday, February 23, 2014

When Liz told me we have the same retro robot toy (also a pencil sharpener) I urged her to let me see her whole collection. It's the stuff of dreams, as you know I'm robot-obsessed and aspire to such greatness in my own home. She also told me a bit about her collection and vintage obsession genesis:

Do you remember
that episode of “The Simpsons” where John Waters guest starred?
He didn’t play himself – he was the voice of an antiques dealer,
who shocked Homer by being gay, drove a rockin’ Cadillac, and gave
out cactus candy. In the end, he saved Homer and Bart from a hunting
trip gone wrong by using a Japanese Santa Claus robot to scare off
angry deer (as you do). Clearly I remember it. That episode made a
big impression on me back in ’97 and, as a direct result, I have a
wall shelf full of robot toys hanging in my living room.

I do not consider myself a real
collector whatsoever. For one thing, none of these are antique or
valuable. Also, I am not continually on the lookout for more robots.
I don’t give them much thought, actually. I am not knowledgeable on
the subject; I just think they look cool. Aesthetically, it doesn’t
get much better than toy robots, if you ask me. I’ve picked them up
over the years, but many have been received as thoughtful gifts. Two
here are actually things I made in a ceramics class and one is
secretly a little clock. There is a toy pterodactyl included for no
good reason, other than that it is awesome. The shelf itself I picked
up at an estate sale for $30, which I could not be happier about. I
don’t know what the side pockets are supposed to be for (plants?)
but they work great for storing my Morrissey saint candles. If
you’re stumped on decorating ideas, I heartedly recommend toy
robots and pictures of Morrissey. Both have worked out pretty well
for me, I think.

I love her Simpsons story, that's one of my, if not my favorite episodes and I didn't even remember that the character was an antiques dealer! I know my blog and not a Simpson's episode resulted in my life as a retro seller but maybe this episode could have planted the most subconscious of seeds? Curious and curiouser! Thank you for sharing your collection Liz!

Tell me your story: I want to see your home, collections, know about your creative life, know about what it's like in your part of world, tell your thrifting adventures, this isn't just my blog, it's yours. Take ownership and please do send me your collection/thrifters around the world/etc. stories. Thanks!